Windshield wiper



Feb; 26, 1957 I J w, ANDERSQN 2,782A47 WINDSHIELD WIPER Filed Jan. 15,1954 .INVENTR- JOHN W NDERSON ATT RNEY United States Patent :O r'iceWINDSHIELD WIPER Application .anuary 15, 1954, Serial No. 404,279

8 Claims. (Cl. -245) This invention relates generally to windshieldwipers and more particularly to a wiper which will wipe a curved or flatwindshield.

The wiper may be constructed in various ways but as herein showncomprises a blade assembly and a pressure distributing device operatvelyconnected to the blade assembly. The blade assembly includes a resilientwiping element and a resiliently flexible support detachably connectedto the element and the pressure device preferably includes a pair ofsecondary yokes having their ends connected to the blade atlongitudinally spaced points, a primary yoke or bridge having its endsconnected to intermediate portions of the secondary yokes, and aconnector carried by the primary yoke for attachment with a wiper arm.

This application is generally related to my copending applicationsSerial Nos. 612,542 and 573,012 and the pending applications of Fred A.Krohm, Serial Nos. 297,098; 334,147; and 341,051, all of which disclosedifferent forms of locking means as abutment means for detachablyholding a blade unit and a pressure unit together and/or whereby thecomponents of -a blade unit are detachably connected.

An important object of the invention is to provide a blade assemblyhaving a resilient wiping element and a resiliently flexible supporthaving anelongated slot with the element secured therein so thatportions of the element overlie opposite sides of the support, and apressure device including -a pair of yokes having channel end portionsslidably mounted on the support, and a pair of fittings located adjacentthe end of the blade assembly for limiting relative longitudinalmovement between the blade assembly and pressure device, each of saidfittings having a portion interposed between the support and saidoverlying portion of the element and with portions respectivelyextending in one end of the slot and a channel end portion of a yoke.

Another object of the invention is to provide fittings which are formedto more or less appear as continuatons of the outer ends of secondaryyokes so as to promote the general appearance of the wiper.

An additional object of the invention is to provide an arrangementwhereby the end portions of the resilient wiping element assist inholding the fittings in place to protect such end portions.

A specific object of the invention is to provide fittings whichfacilitate assembly and disassembly of the blade assembly and pressuredevice.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent afterthe description hereinafter set forth is considered in conjunction withthe drawings annexed hereto.

ln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of the windshield wiper;

Figure 2 is a partial enlarged side view of Vthe wiper shown in Figure1;

2.,782,447 Patienten Feb. 26, 1957 Figure 3 is a transverse sectiontaken substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 4-4 ofFigure 2 showing certain details of con- Struction;

Figure 5 is a bottom view of one of the pair of fittings utilzed to holdthe pressure device on the blade assembly;

Figure 6 is a top view of a portion of one form of a resilientlyflexible support of a blade assembly; and

Figure 7 is a top view .of a portion of another form of support.

As exernplitled in the drawings, the blade assembly includes aresiliently flexible support 1 and a resilient wiper element 2. Thesupport is elongated and preferably of uniform thickness and providedwith an elengated narrow slot 3 tci'minating short of the ends of thesupport to provide connecting portions constituting abutmcnts 4, one ofwhich is shown in Figure 6. The slot is interrupted adjacent its ends toprovide a pair of openings 5, one of which is shown in Figure 6. Theseopenatford a means whereby the resilient wiping element can be threadcdendwisc into connection with the support.

The resilient element 2 is preferably formed in one piece With opposedlongitudinally extending exterior grooves 6 therein to provide a neck'7. When the element is properly threaded into the slot the grooves 6wiil receive inner marginal edge portions of longitudinal portions ofthe support with the neck 7 between such portions and so that upperportions 9 and the lower portions lt of the element will respectivelyengage the upper and lower surfaces of the support as depieted inFigures 3 and The element is further formed with a pair of opposedlongitudinally extending exterior grooves it to provide a hiuge 12 topermit a controlled pivotal movement of a wiping head 13 having wipingedges thereon as shown.

As set forth above the pressure distributing device preferably includesa pair of corresponding secondary yokes lat and 15 having their endsdetachably connected to the support, a primary yoke 16 having its endspivotally connected to intermediate portions of the secondary yokes, anda connector 17 carried by the primary yoke for detachable connectionwith a wiper arm. Fittings i detachably connectible with the wiper areprovided for limiting longitudinal relative movement between the bladeassembly and pressure device and will be described subsequently.

The secondary yokes f and 16 are preferably identical in design andconstruction, and each of each secondary yoke is preferably made in theform of a channel having a top wall 19, side walls 20 and generallyU-shaped formations 21 extending outwardly from the side Walls forslidably receiving the outer longitudinal edge portions of the supportas clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4. lt will be noted that the top walls19 of the secondary yokes are spaced from the upper part ofthe wipingelement. The secondary yokes are preferably assembled with the supportby merely sliding the yokes inwardly on the support.

As clearly illustrated, each of the fittings 18 includes Ia top Wall 22and side walls 23 straddling the upper part of the wiping element. Theside walls are provided with inturned portions 24 which are locatedbetween the overlapping portions 9 of the element and the upper surfaceof the support as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. The top wall 22 of eachfitting is provided with a continuation 25 which extends across theouter open end of the fitting and is provided with a curved finger 26which projects 'through the slot 3 between the connectingwportionorabutmentw 4 of the support and the end of. the vwiping element asdepicted in Figures 2 and 3. The finger 26 assists in holding thefitting in place and also facilitates v its detachable connection withthe support and a secondary yoke. The top wall 22 of each fitting isfurther provided with a continuation 27 which is offset from the topwall and extends into a channel end of a secondary yoke in the spacebetween its top wall portion 20 and the upper part of the wipingelement.

Attention is directed to the fact that when the fittings are properlyattached to the wiper, the side and top walls of the fittings more orless respectively appear as continu-ations of the top and side walls ofthe outer channel ends of the secondary yokes. In other words, the sidewalls of the end channels and the side walls of the fittings aresubstantially equally spaced apart and the distance from the uppersurface of the support to the top walls of the channel ends and fittingsare also substantially the same. The ofset continuation 27 alsocontrbutes to' the appearance of continuity and allows each of thefittings to maintain a closer position to the outer ends of thesecondary yokes.

In assembling the pressure device and blade assembly, one of thefittings is first preferably attached to the blade assembly. Thepressure device is then mounted on the Vsupport by threading the supportthrough the channel ends of the secondary yokes until the foremostchannel end receives the continuation 27 of the fitting and abuts thefitting, after which the other fitting is attached to the wiper todetachably slidably secure the pressure device between the fittings.

To attach the first fitting to the blade assembly, it is only necessaryto slide the fitting in a direction to position its inturned portions 24between the upper surface of the support and the overlying portions 9 ofthe wiping element and then slightly tilt and slide the fitting tolocate the finger 26 opposite the slot 3, after which it is eithermanually pushed or forced into the slot by the wiping element which isunder tension as shown in Figure 2. The wiping element resilientlyforces and holds the inturned portions in place. In order to assist inthis assembly operation, the wiping element is preferably pulled orpushed slightly away from the connecting portion 4 to form a gap orspace to permit easy insertion of the finger 26 between the end of theelement and portion 4. Also, t

the inner corners of the inturnecl portions of the fitting arepreferably rounded as indicated at 28 in Figure to assist in pilotingand threading the fittings onto the wiping element.

After one of the fittings is attached to the blade assemi bly asdescribed above, the pressure device is connected to the blade assemblyby threading the support 1 through the channel ends of the secondaryyokes. The other fitting is then assembled with the other end of theblade assembly and the outer end of the secondary yoke that is lastplaced on the support in the same manner as the first mentioned fitting,except that the continuation 27 thereof is inserted into the yoke beforethe finger 26 is moved into the slot 3 between the connecting portion orabutment 4 and the end of the wiping element. With this novelarrangement the fittings are detachably connected with the support,wiping element and secondary yokes to operatively detachably connect theblade assembly and pressure device and determine the relativelongitudinal movement therebetween.

A modified form of support for the wiping element is exemplified inFigure 7 of the drawing. This support is provided with an elongated slot29 forming a pair of parallel portions 30 for embracing the element. Theportions 30 are joined by connecting hinge portions 31 at the ends ofsupport so as to allow spreading of the portions 30 to widen the slot topermit entry of a wiping element as distinguished from threading theelement entirely through either of the openings 5 and into the slot 3 oflthe support 1.

Having thus described my invcntion, it is obvious that variousmodifications may-be made in the same without eparting from the spiritof the invention, and, therefore, I do not wish to be understood aslimiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement andcombination of parts herein shown and described.

I claim:

1. A windshield wiper comprising: a blade assembly havingl a resilientwiping element and a resiliently flexible support having an elongatedslot with the element secured therein so that portions of the elementoverlie opposite sides of the support, a pressure device including apair of yokes having channel end portions slidably mounted on thesupport, and a pair of fittings located adjacent the end of the bladeassembly for limiting relative longitudinal movement between the bladeassembly and pressure device, each of said fittings having a portioninterposed between the support and an overlyng portion of the elementand portions respectively extending in the ends of the slot and thechannel end portions of the yokes.

2. A windshield wiper comprising: a blade assembly having a resilientwiping element and a resiliently flexible support secured thereto sothat portions of the element overlie the upper surface of the support,abutment means carried by the ends of the support, a pressure deviceincluding a pair of yokes each having integral channel ends slidablymounted on the blade assembly, and a pair of fittings for limitingrelative longitudinal movement between the pressure device and bladeassembly, each of said fittings having a portion engaging an abutmentmeans for limiting outward movement of the fitting, another portionextending into the outer end channel of a yoke, and other portionsdisposedbetween the upper surface of the support and the overlyingportions of the element.

3. A windshield wiper comprising: a blade assembly having a resilientwiping element and a resiliently flexible support having an elongatedslot with the element Secured therein so that portions of the elementoverlie opposite sides of the support, a pressure device including apair of yokes having channel end portions slidably mounted on thesupport, and a pair of fittings located adjacent the end of the bladeassembly for limiting relative longitudinal movement between the bladeassembly and pressure device, each of said fittings having a portioninterposed between the support and an overlying portion of the elementand a portion extending in one end of the slot.

4. A windshield wiper comprising: a wiper blade assembly having aresilient wiping element and a lexible support therefor, a pressuredevice mounted on the support, said support having an elongated slotwith the wiping element Secured therein, means adjacent one end of theblade assembly for limiting movement of the pressure device thereon inone direction, and means adjacent the other end of the assemblycomprising a fitting having portions caught in the slot and under aportion of the element for limiting movement of the blade assembly inthe opposite direction.

5. A windshield wiper comprising a blade assembly having a resilientwiping element and a resiliently Flexible support having an'elongatedslot with the element Secured therein so that portions of the elernentoverlie opposite sides of the support, a pair of fittings locatedadjacent the ends of the blade assembly for limiting relativelongitudinal movement between the blade assembly and a pressure deviceadapted for connection With the blade assembly, one of said fittingshaving a portion interposed between the support andan overlying portionof the element and a portion extending in one end of the slot.

6. A windshield wiper comprising: an elongated flexible support and aresilient wiping element Secured to the support and having portionsoverlapping the support, spaced abutment means on the wiper for limitingsliding movement of apressure device ladapted to be mounted on thewiper, and one of said abutment means having a portion interposedbetween the support and overlapping portion of the element whereby toassist in holding said one abutment means in a predetermined position.

7. A Windshield wiper coxnprising: a Wiper blade assembly having aresilient Wiping element and a flexible support therefor, a pressuredevice monnted on the support, said support having an elongated slotwith a wiping element Secured therein, means adjacent one end of theblade assembly for limiting movement of the pressure device thereon inone direction, and means adjacent the other end of the assemblycomprising a fitting having portions caught in the slot and pressuredevice for limiting movement of the blade assembly in the oppositedirection.

8. A Windshield Wiper comprising: a wiper blade assembly having aresilient Wiping element and a flexible support therefor, a pressuredevice mounted on the support, said support having an elongated slotwith the Wipng element secured therein, said pressure device in- 6cluding a pair of secondary yokes having outer channel end portionsslidably connected to the support, and a pair of corresponding meanslocated adjacent the ends of the blade assembly and pressure device,each of said means comprising a fitting having a portion disposed in theend of the slot and a portion caught in a channel end portion of a yoke.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,54S,090 Anderson Apr. 10, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 487,846 Canada Nov. 4,1952 683,375 Great Britain Nov. 26, 1952

